A Fixed Timeline
by BrokenCurse
Summary: An alternate ending for the Angels Take Manhattan.
1. The Letter

_I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters._

**This is my alternate ending for The Angels Take Manhattan. It starts a few years after the Ponds were sent back to the 1940's. From Amy's POV.**

"Rory!" I yelled as I walked in the house after getting the mail.

"What is it? You don't have to scream. I'm in the kitchen."

"Look at this!" I commanded as I shoved the opened letter is his face. "It's from our daughter." A tear had started rolling down my face.

"Well don't just stand there! Read it to me." he said impatiently.

_Dearest Mum and Dad,_

_ I have finally tracked down both of you without being able to transport myself to your current time and position. It was a pain to do and I had to call in a bunch of favors. I almost gave up and just used my vortex manipulator to find you, but the doctor went on about how it could tare a hole in the universe and all that and eventually threatened to take it away from me. _

_ Anyways, from what I have been able to gather from my research, both of you are doing well and have been able to blend in to your current time. I have been keeping myself busy and out of trouble (mostly). Well who are we kidding? I can never keep myself out of trouble, it's just too much fun. _

_ Hopefully along with this letter is the book that I wrote. Melody Melone. What a pain to write. Other than making sure I put enough information, but not too much to cause any problems, I hate repeats. But I had to do it to keep the timelines straight. So, Amy, I need you to publish this book for me. As far as I can tell, you are currently working at a publishing company and should be able to get a favor or two. Honestly only one copy of the book needs to be printed. After that, I will be able to get it to the Doctor. It might involve crossing my own time stream, but I love the danger. _

_ Now I need to ask a favor of you. Not for me, for the Doctor. He is upset. I fear he will seclude himself for a while. He blames himself for what happens and won't listen to reason. But maybe he might listen to you. Write an afterward in the book. Convince him not to be alone; you know that he should never be alone. He hates endings, but the story must end._

_ I love you both,_

_Melody Pond_

By the time I finished reading the letter, tears were streaming down my face. Rory squeezed me tight and I saw that he was crying too. We were together, but separated from our family.


	2. The Gravestone

Later that night I stayed awake writing and rewriting the afterward. Rory and I had been comforting each other since we received the letter that afternoon, but he had finally gone to sleep. While we had tried phrases like "It's not so bad here," and "We are happy most of the time," and "Every day here is like an adventure," and even "We finally settled down like adults," it always came back to "There is nothing we can do. It's a fixed timeline. We both saw the gravestone."

That stupid gravestone! If we had both gone back to the Tardis with River and the Doctor, neither of us would have seen it and the timeline would not be fixed. I keep hearing the Doctor's voice in my head reminding me that once we read it, it has to happen. Stupid paradoxes!

I angrily throw another crumpled up piece of paper in the bin. I can imagine seeing the Doctor reading my words on the stupid last page of that book in the park in Manhattan. It is a beautiful park. Not that Rory and I ever go there. I guess the knowledge that our graves will one day sit there kind of creeps both of us out.

The Doctor will be, is, well not yet (time travel is confusing) devastated. Reading my words on paper won't be able to take him out of that depression. I don't even think if I could be there personally he would be all right. I laughed at my own sleep-deprived joke and looked to the bed to make sure I didn't wake Rory.

It's really too bad that the Doctor saw the gravestone because if he didn't maybe he would have been able to come rescue us. He wouldn't know what was ahead so time for him would still be in a flux. Maybe it could have been rewritten. But he did see the gravestone and knows that one day it will be there and read _In Loving Memory Rory Arthur Williams Aged 82 _and then whatever it says about me.

It is already past 1 in the morning, but I know I won't be able to sleep. Thinking about the Doctor reading my letter and Rory's death have made me restless. I quickly write a note to Rory saying that I've gone out for a stroll in case he wakes up while I'm gone, put on my boots and jacket, kiss Rory on the forehead and go outside. For a while I just wander around the streets on New York, the city that never sleeps, but the amount of lights and noise begin to bother me as I quietly wish for the silent nights in Leadworth.

I find myself drawn to the park I have previously kept my distance from. I walk over the bridge that I fed ducks on that day and by the bolder the three of us picnicked on before Rory disappeared. I see in the distance that a cemetery already exists there, although not nearly as large as large as the one we saw in the future. I begin to weave through the gravestones reading the names of the deceased people. I walk over to roughly where my gravestone will lie.

I sit down on the grass and look at the cemetery. I am confused. There is something I am missing, something right in front of me. I look around trying to figure it out. Then I realize how close I am to the current gravestones. I don't think where I am sitting is even two rows away. But that doesn't make sense. I know Rory will be 82, unless I die young (a very morbid thought for 2 in the morning) there is no reason for Rory and my grave to be this close to the existing ones. And I don't think I will die young. I didn't see my name on the gravestone, but I know the only space for it would be under his name. And it doesn't make sense to write the name on bottom first.

So, what could it mean? I ponder this for a few minutes. When I finally realize the answer, or what I think is the answer, I stand up and sprint all the way back to the house.


	3. The Joy

"RORY! RORY! Wake up!" I practically screamed as I shook him awake.

"Amy? What's wrong?" Rory rubbed his eyes and sat up. He saw the frantic look in my eyes started to worry. "What's wro-," I interrupted.

"We can go home! We can leave here! We could find the Doctor or Melody or both! We can, we can, we can go!"

"Amy," he said in a comforting voice as he rubbed my back, "We can't. All we can do is make the best of living here, in this time."

"No. You don't understand. I went to the graveyard." I began to explain.

"The graveyard? As in our future graveyard?" he questioned.

"Yes! Our future graveyard. But that's just it. I don't think it really is." Rory looked at me with a look of confusion mixed with worry and skepticism. I continued to explain before he could truly think I am crazy. "We saw a gravestone with your name on it and there was room for my name so the gravestone has to be there, but what if we didn't die, or don't die. Well I know we have to die at some point, but we don't have to be buried there. There just has to be a gravestone that says we are buried there!" I saw the idea click in his head.

"Amy," he looked into my eyes and smiled, "We can leave."

We hugged and danced and jumped up and down and laid in bed cuddling just repeating the phrase, "We can leave," for hours until both of us fell asleep.


	4. The Plan

**Chapter 4 **

The next morning, well really afternoon since we slept in after our late night, Rory and I excitedly went to get a gravestone made. I was fidgeting the whole time out of excitement. Rory mentioned that we are probably the only two people who were ever excited to have their gravestone made.

"We probably shouldn't tell the person that we are making our having our own gravestone made. It might draw attention to us," I mentioned. Rory nodded.

When we arrived a man in a black suit greeted us solemnly. We walked back into his office and sat together holding hands, trying to contain our excitement which was clearly confusing the mason who sat on the other side of the desk. "I understand you want a gravestone made. May I ask who you lost?" the man said professionally.

"My parents," said Rory. The man started writing on the notepad in front of him. "They actually passed a while ago, but due to circumstances we were unable to honor them properly. But now we have decided to memorialize them." The man nodded sympathetically.

"What type of stone would you like?" The man showed us a binder that had pictures of the different stones. The very first one in the book was what we had seen in the park that day. Rory and I immediately turn to each other and smiled. I pointed at the picture in the book and told the man, "It's this one."

"Are you sure? There are lots of other designs in the book. There might be something you would suit your parents better."

"No, no," Rory responded, "We are sure. It is this one." I nodded in agreement. The man looked unconvinced by our loose act, but wrote on his notepad anyways.

"So, what would you like this gravestone to say?" He asked. I reached out for Rory's hand as he replied.

"_In loving memory of Rory Arthur Williams Aged 82._ Written on three separate lines."

"And below that," I chimed in, "_And his loving wife Amelia Williams Aged" _I paused for a moment deciding, "_87. _Also on three lines._"_ I looked at Rory and smiled. If we were in the presence of company we would be arguing about who would actually live to be older and what are actual ages are considering the amount of time we spent time traveling with the Doctor.

When I looked back at the man he seemed even more confused and uncomfortable due to our joyful demeanor. Despite that, he finished writing on his notepad and gave us the remaining paperwork to fill out and told us that the stone could be ready to put in the ground in less than a week, if we paid extra, which we gladly did.

After we left the mason Rory and I went to buy the plot of land in the cemetery. This went a lot easier than buying the gravestone since no one seemed suspicious of our ill contained joy. It was nearing dinnertime when we finished buying the land, so Rory and I decided to take a stroll around the city we would hopefully soon be leaving. About a block away from the hospital our quiet walk was interrupted.

"Doctor Williams! Doctor Williams!" someone yelled after us. Rory and I calmly turned around to see the young man running toward us.


	5. The Doubt

**Chapter 5**

Rory greeted him calmly. "Hello Mr. Binds."

"Good evening Doctor Williams," the man said, slightly out of breath, "Where were you today? You had a shift from 8 to 6. We were worried when you didn't show up. You rarely miss a shift and when you must you have always informed us beforehand."

"I apologize greatly," Rory stalled while quickly thinking of an excuse, "I, umm, had something urgent that I had to resolve. I honestly forgot that I had a shift today. I hope I did not cause too much trouble." Rory gave a sympathetic smile. The man looked back suspiciously due to Rory's vagueness. He is usually much better at coming up with believable lies and backstories. I squeezed his arm understanding the amount of stress he was under.

After Mr. Binds walked on his way, I turned to Rory and asked, " Why didn't you come up with an excuse that would explain our future absence? Like something urgent came up and we immediately realized we have to move to Idaho or something. Somewhere where no one would even care to look for us."

Rory stared back at me awkwardly. "What if we can't leave immediately? I mean we will make the gravestone and place it in the graveyard for us and the Doctor and Melody to find in the future, but then what?"

"Then we leave, Rory."

"But how? The Doctor won't just answer our call and come to us. You probably know that more than me. He is probably sulking somewhere in space and time. And even if we can contact him, he won't come and get us. He loves us, but I am not sure that he will rip apart New York for us. And even if we know that won't happen, he doesn't. And I am not sure he will even risk it. Knowing him, he has probably stopped taking stupid risks for a while after losing us. So who else is there for us to call?" He asked rhetorically.

"River…," I whispered unconfidently, "Our good girl. She will come for us." Rory hugged me before I started crying.

"Will she?" I honestly did not know. River was strong and did not care about the rules, especially the Doctor's rules, but she was vulnerable and we had abandoned her, not just once, but many times. I knew she loved us, but she could not rely on us. So what gave me the right to rely on her to save Rory and me?


	6. The Guilt

**Chapter 6 **

That evening I dug the letter Melody had written to Rory and me out of my nightstand drawer and read it over and over. During each read through I felt more and more guilty about not being there for her. She devoted who knows how many years of her life to finding Rory and me, and the Doctor for that matter, time after time and we kept losing her, or leaving her behind, or sending her back to jail. And yet, she still never asked for anything for herself in that letter, just to publish the book in order to keep the timelines straight and to write a letter to the Doctor because he was (or will be from another perspective) upset.

Rory found me sitting on the edge of our bed with red, puffy eyes and the letter in my hands. He silently put his arm around me and proceeded to read the letter again too. Except instead of getting all emotional at it as I was, he actually read the words. "Amy…," I looked up at him, "How is River going to get the printed book to the Doctor?" he questioned.

I reread the line in the letter involving that.

"_As far as I can tell, you are currently working at a publishing company and should be able to get a favor or two. Honestly only one copy of the book needs to be printed. After that, I will be able to get it to the Doctor. It might involve crossing my own time stream, but I love the danger."_

Rory stared at me until I understood. A tentative smile crossed my lips. "She has to come back here?" He nodded, smiling too.

"Our daughter has to find the book. We just need to make sure we are there when she finds it."


End file.
